Anyone have any experience with a ruptured coolant recovery tank? Burst yesterday - a 6" split in the tank and not on a seam. Very odd.

I had recently flushed and refilled the system but had a weeks worth of driving without incident.

A replacement tank is only $52 so the repair isn't expensive but it does make me wonder about what may have contributed to this.

 

After you replace the recovery bottle, I would check and make sure you haven't blow a head gasket, causing excess pressure in the coolant system.

 

I have seen many of these expasion tanks split. Bmw use the hard plastic type tanks, they seem more suspect to this failure as compared to the more common opaque resivoirs. which are more resiliant. I would still recommend a full inspection of the cooling system and a block test, even thoughthe Bmw motors are fairly indesuctable.

 

replace your tstat too, and have them check the radiator for restricted flow, notorious for cloggin up at the bottem end of it

 

Gentlemen - Thanks for your comments and advice.

The head gasket wasn't blown and the system is circulating fine - the thermostat is fine and the vehicle never overheated.

I had replaced the coolant recently. Perhaps there was an air pocket in the system.

Incidentally, the mechanic indicated that alot of the coolant manufacturers are producing 'green' extended life antifreeze that he says should work fine in the vehicle.

I had drained, flushed and filled with DexCool. I believe I may switch back to the Chevron AFC or one of the othersin 30K miles.

Thanks again
Bob

 

The tank did not split because of the Dexcool, I wouldn't change it.
I hear you mention that everything is fine, what does fine mean and how do you know? What test did you do?
Trust me, the may have been a one of a kind failure on the part of your coolant, but usually it is caused from excess pressure.

 

I asked the mechanic to verify that it wasn't a blown head gasket. He didn't tell me specifically what test or tests he did but assured me it wasn't blown. Its not using any fluid and its not overheating. I have 200 miles on it since.

If it still had a problem, would it not have manifested itself by now?

I see another member posted a response saying he's aware of multiple failures of these tanks due to the plastic type.

I'll keep the Dex Cool in. Thanks for the advice Mike.

 

you should not be using dexcool. it uses a special coolant, anyway, wont cause that problem, just the issue with the radiator will be worse. you should change the tstat though, not that it itself is bad, but because your heater probe isnt working as it should. the tstat is heated, and thats what goes wrong with them

 

Roverguy - Why shouldn't I be using Dexcool? Aside from the mfgr recommendation, which for this vehicle is now 5 or 6 yrs hence, I've had a response from another supermember that was a Service Mgr saying that I can leave it in. In fact, the parts mgr at my local dealership recommended it instead of me driving 40 miles to get the Chevron AFC from him due to price, distance, etc....simply said I needed to flush system completely.

Also, why should I replace the thermostat when its always worked fine...even at the time of the rupture.. The vehicle didn't overheat, ever. Midline on the gauge and still is, now with over 300 miles since replacing the overflow tank? Why do you say the tstat is not working as it should...another response said they've seen many of these hard plastic overflow tanks burst dueto the tank material?

 

your car originally came with a blue colored coolant common in alot of german car makes. By dexcool I assume you are refering to the red or orange colored coolant.This should be fine, infact all rovers after 05 started using this dexcool coolant. I believe If you had any sort of problem with your thermostat, you would also have a fault stored in the ecm, thus the ses light would be on. I believe in preventive maintence, but in your case "if it aint broke dont fix it"